The Story of My Dragon Green L520

Chapter One

  On March 5, 2005, I bought a 1967 Datsun L520 pick-up truck. The seller, Old Motors, a small dealer of vintage British cars located in Orange, California, said it only needed brakes (“I think they just need to be bled,” Bill The Sales Guy told me.), a little carburetor work and a seat cover. Once these simple fixes were taken care of, it would be ready for daily use. I was certain it would need more work than that, but not much, so I paid my money and waited till they towed it to my house.

Five weeks after writing them a check and after almost daily telephone calls, Old Motors finally delivered my truck. And I got right to work taking it apart.

Of course as with all old cars, once I started peeling back the layers, I discovered I really had my work cut out for me. Initially, I had intended to buy the truck because, as I told myself and my wife, I “needed” it for trips to the dump and to Home Depot and to haul my art around. Of course this was true, but more than its utility, I wanted the L520 for its style, history and economy.

 I love the design of the late 1950s through mid-1960s and although this truck was technically outside that era, it retained many styling elements from that period. I also have a fondness for things Japanese. I liked the fact that 1967 was the first year Datsun (or any Japanese automaker) found success with a small pick-up truck. Perhaps like me, more Americans then were looking for something more suitable to daily driving and rising gas prices than the V-8 monsters that the U.S. automakers were producing then. (I had been wanting a 1960s Ford pick-up prior to finding this truck, and frankly, still do.)

My plan to simply get the carburetor working right, repair the brakes and buy a cheap seat cover, then over time—a lot of time—slowly restore it. But almost as soon as I put it on jack stands and removed the wheels and brake drums, it was clear to me that the truck was in need of a lot more than I had hoped and I was already starting to think too much about how good it would look repainted and with all the right bits and pieces. Before I even had the truck, I had been scouring eBay for things.

Although the brake problem seemed to be limited to the delaminated brake shoe that was floating around inside the drum of the rear passenger’s side wheel, it turned out to be much more than that. This was my first brake job and as I got each brake apart, I decided it best to simply replace every bit and piece in all four wheels. “Do it once. Do it right,” I thought. Unfortunately, a frugal car guy talked me into replacing only those things that really need replacing, like the shoes. I should have followed my gut.

As soon as I replaced the shoes and put it all back together, I discovered that the brake lines were all bad as one by one they gave way each time I successively replaced one, reassembled the brakes and began bleeding the system. Once I replaced the lines, I discovered that each wheel cylinder was bad, too. In the end, I must have disassembled and reassembled each brake six times.

While I waited for the various brake parts I ordered to come in from vendors all over the country, I started sanding and priming. I did this mostly out of boredom, but it developed into an obsession. Before I knew it, I was pulling off body panels, bumpers and every bit of stainless and chrome. Within a week, the entire Dragon Green truck was a fair shade of grey primer. Now, I'm ready to send it to paint, as soon as I get my seat back from the upholsterer, which should be this week.

The last thing I need is the title and registration, which the nice folks at Old Motors have yet to deliver. Of course I asked about the title prior to buying the truck. With a laugh of incredulity Bill The Sales Guy told me it was clean. And when in relief I said, “So you have it then.” Bill gave me a definitive “Of course.” But here I am, four months later titleless; this, despite weekly calls and weekly assurances that they are working on it.

Still, by the end of July, hopefully by mid-July, I'll have it painted and rolling reliably and safely around OC. That is, if I can get the brake lights and other electrical stuff working. Most of my wiring is shot. It's ugly.

Chapter Two

It wasn't until Sept. 2005 that I finally received the title and was able to get the truck back on the road and to the painter. I chose Macco due to its proximity to my house, low cost, the recommendation of a friend and ability to match the original Dragon Green color. Macco, however, did a poor job, with many runs, drips, chips and missed spots, as well as "forgetting" to repair two spots that required welding. They offered to make good on the mistakes, but again did a poor job. I'll spare the details here, but suffice it to say I'll not go back, EVER. And I still have to get any area of the truck that wraps under the car and faces the ground repainted. Macco refused to paint those areas, leaving them primered and susceptible to rust.

Since getting it painted I have continued to collect NOS parts from around the world. It looks good and gets many compliments. I have even had one offer to buy it, but no money was discussed. I have almost every missing part replaced, but still need to pick up a few items, mostly to replace cosmetically inferior parts I have now.

Chapter Three

Took the truck to the weekly car show in Laguna Beach and got lots of attention. People love these things and genuinely seem to love the fact that I've saved one of these once-popular and now-rare trucks.

On Oct. 1, 2006 I entered it in the Second Annual Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach. I expect nothing and was actually worried it wasn't up to snuff as an entry in a show. But people, again, loved it, especially the many who came from Japan for the show. I spoke to several editors from magazines in Japan and one collector and parts seller. They loved my little green truck and gave me new insights into how to continue its restoration. I also spoke with an editor from Motor Trend Classic, who expressed an interest in putting it in a short piece about the show.

The truck placed Second in the Best Datsun Truck category ahead of a beautiful Datsun Patrol and behind a 1971 520 (1600). The winning truck belonged to a guy who helped organize the show and seemed to play a role in the judging. I was happy with the attention and to even be considered for an award (I wasn't even sure it was worthy of showing when I signed up for the show.), but I do think the organizers would reconsider the rules and perhaps not allow show staffers to compete. The winning truck was nice in some regards, but the attention to detail was a little lacking. Even the Patrol, which I thought would win the category, was a whole lot nicer. Sound like sour grapes? I hope not. Like I said, I was stoked just to be there, and to meet so many people who loved my truck. I was happy just to be there with a bunch of others who like Japanese cars.

 To date, (Oct. 2, 2006) I have done the following:

ENGINE/MECHANICAL

Entirely rebuild all four brakes and replaced all four wheel cylinders

Got hand brake working again

Rebuilt the carburetor

Replace clutch

Replaced in-line fuel filter with proper gas strainer

Replaced clogged and rusted fuel line

Replaced all four shocks

Replaced battery and battery holder

Searched high and low for a suitable air filter housing, replacing it twice. Current housing is correct but fits poorly and is in bad shape.

Painted valve cover and replaced gasket

Replaced ignition coil with NOS coil, which died. Now using original coil

Replaced distributor cap with NOS, replaced rotor. Need to replace entire distributor at some point

Replaced spark plugs and wires

Adjusted valves

Replaced centerlink and tie rods with NOS

Replaced fuel pump with NOS

Replaced Fuse Box with NOS

Replaced air filter with NOS Datsun filter

Had heater radiator leaks repaired

Replaced front suspension bushings

BODY

Covered the bed and under body with Rust Bullet

Sanded entire body to remove rust, bad paint and cracked and excess Bondo

Patched or replaced Bondo with lightweight body filler (left many dings and dents to leave character and history in tact)

Primed the body (rattle can) several times

Painted original Dragon Green

Cleaned (as best I could) and sprayed 80 percent of underside with black paint and/or undercoating. It may not stay on forever, but it sure looks good now.

Replaced bulky mismatched door mirrors with proper NOS Datsun fender mirrors

Replaced placed grille with NOS grille and light surrounds with NOS.

Replaced 1300 badges (one was missing) with NOS badges

Replaced hood badge with NOS

Replaced missing windshield wiper arms with NOS arms

Replaced rear reflectors with NOS reflectors

Replaced missing gas cap with NOS cap

Replaced door seals and window channel felt

Replaced missing hood bumpers

Replaced Dark Horse 175/65 front and Lemans 185/70 rear tires with Coker’s 560x14 1-inch whitewall B.F. Goodrich tires

Found fourth and fifth rims to replace mismatched set of four

Painted rims grey

Replaced missing spare tire mount with NOS

Replaced spare with NOS Toyo original 600x14 tire

Replaced heavy-duty rear bumper with proper bumperettes

Replaced 521 tail lights with NOS JDM tail lights

Painted rear Datsun logo white

Replaced bed gate chains with NOS

Fabricated mounting bracket for license plate holder (brackets for license plate and tail lights are missing)

Installed license plate frame from Datsun of Honolulu

INTERIOR

Stripped old seat cover and nasty padding off and repainted seat frame and springs then had seat reupholstered in two-tone jade (not original color) with 21 pleats as it had originally

Replaced door panels with new panel and two-tone jade cover

Replaced original radio with radio blank plate (painted to match interior)

Replaced rear view mirror with NOS

Replaced interior lithe with NOS (not wired, however)

Replaced mismatched interior window handles with correct NOS handles

Repaired cracked steering wheel

Repaired broken under-dash shelf, using fiberglass

New carpeting

Replaced missing brake/clutch pedal pads

Replaced rotten/missing floor plugs

Replaced incorrect shift boot with NOS boot

Replaced hood release pull and cable with NOS set-up

Replaced shifter knob with proper knob found in a junk yard

Installed correct jack

STILL NEED (TO)

Replace exhaust/muffler

Much electrical work (mainly rewiring of lights)

Spray bed with color-matched Dragon Green Rhino Liner

Windshield and rear window seals

Front turn signals (NOS) in clear

Light switch knob

Pull off dash and repaint and replace and/or repair little things underneath

Rebuild engine

Replace steering gear box (have parts)

Replate bumpers

Find proper screws and bolts for interior handles and such

Find nice air filter housing

Replace choke cable with NOS (have one for right-hand drive, it's too short)